Spectrum
by CreativityFlow
Summary: Sam had planned for Pride. He knew what he was going to wear and everything was planned out. The cape was definitely not part of the plan.


Any other day, Sam would love to be in the skies, fighting bad guys, and just enjoying being Nova. Just not today.

He supposes it's for the best, so that the people celebrating just a few streets over can continue, knowing that New York's heroes are protecting them.

"Hey, Nova, you awake up there?" White Tiger calls through the comms and he quickly shakes himself back to the battle at hand.

"Sorry," he says, and dives down to punch Beetle while he's distracted by Spider-Man. At the last moment, Beetle spun himself around and Nova had to stop himself before he hits the web slinger. Still, though, his momentum is too strong, and he lands on both the hero and villain, with the Beetle at the bottom of their small heap.

"Well," Spidey groans, "not how I would've done it, but I guess this works, too."

Nova opens his mouth to give a sarcastic retort or flirtatious remark (he's still not sure how to act around his kind-of-maybe-almost-boyfriend-slash-mortal-enemy), but before he can, the rest of the team surrounds them. White Tiger has her arms crossed, and she's shaking her head, but Iron Fist and Power Man are laughing at them.

"Yeah, ha ha, let's laugh at our teammates and not help them up," Webs huffs, and before Nova can stop him, he's using his super human strength to push Nova off and stand up. He quickly webs Beetle up so he can't get away and dusts himself off. "Well, that was fun. How about we drop this guy off at SHIELD, and celebrate with- is that a balloon?"

Nova rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "What do you expect? The parades only a few blocks over."

Even with the mask, he can still see the Web Heads confusion. "What parade? Wait- is it June!?"

White Tiger easily catches the balloon. Using her claws, she pops it, and confetti explodes out of it.

"Pride is today?" Spider-Man asks.

"Dude, where have you been?" Nova asks.

"I just- I mean-"

Power Man shakes his head and places a hand on Spider-Man's shoulder. "How about we-" he motions to Iron Fist, White Tiger, and himself, "-go bring in Beetle, and you guys go check out the parade."

"Dude, really?"

"Oh, sweet!"

"Just make sure you get your mission reports turned in to Fury," White Tiger says. "I'm not taking the heat if you guys skip out."

"Yeah, yeah, no problem." Spider-Man waves her off. "Hey, Nova, last one there has to clean the Triskelion."

He's already slung a web before he's even done talking, and Nova gives a dignified "hey!" before chasing after him.

They don't really race, just show off with over the top tricks and try to mess the other up. When the festivities are in sight, Spider-Man drops down to the street, and Nova loses sight of him.

"Idiot," he grumbles, and dives down to find him.

As soon as he lands, people gasp and he's surrounded by people either covered in colors, or covered by... well, more colors. He grins and waves as he greets people.

"Whoa, a super hero at Pride!" someone gushes and then people are asking for selfies.

Nova smiles wide for each one and when it seems the hype is dying down, he asks, "Has anyone seen my pal Spidey? He's about yea big, major dork, usually referred to as the 'wall crawling menace?'"

There's giggling, and he smirks. See? He was way funnier than-

Something is flung over his head, someone is hugging him from behind, and he struggles with his attacker for a moment before the guy laughs and steps back.

Nova rips away the material blocking his sight only to find it's a rainbow flag. Next to him, Spider-Man stands proud with the bisexual flag tied around his neck like a cape.

"What do you think?" he asks. "I always said I thought my costume was missing something."

"I think you look dumb," Nova snorts.

"I think you look hot, Spidey," a guy says, stepping forward from the still gathered crowd.

"Thanks!" and even with his mask on, Nova knows he's beaming. "Now come on, Nova, put on your cape, too. The best place to see the parade is high up."

Nova sighs fondly and ties the flag around his neck.

"Are you guys dating?" a girl asks, and she has the colors blue, purple, and pink on one cheek and red, blue, and black on the other. Her partners nod enthusiastically, waiting for their answer.

Both heroes hesitate, glance at the other.

"Um," Nova stutters.

"Kind of," Spidey shrugs.

"Not officially."

"It's complicated."

"I ship it," someone mutters, and Nova can feel his face burn as he blushes.

He rises into the air a few feet, and his flag-turned-cape flutters. "Right, well," he clears his throat, "enjoy the parade, guys, and, uh, be safe."

"'Be safe,'" Spider-Man mocks. "He's such a hero."

The people around them giggle, and Nova elbows the web slinger in the ribs, earning a soft "ow!" Nova grabs Spidey by the wrist, and the Nova Force envelopes them both, allowing him to easily lift Spidey into the air.

"Come on, Web Head, we have a parade to watch," he says.

"Alright, alright, no need to get grabby, Spark Plug."

"They have pet names!" a girl squeals, and Nova flies them out of there before his teammate can respond.

Spidey is laughing by the time they land on a nearby rooftop, and when they deem it clear, he tugs off his mask.

Like always, something switches in his mind, and Sam can drop the code names, going back to Sam and Peter instead of Spider-Man and Nova. He takes his helmet off as well and shakes his head.

"Dude, do you know how many rumors are being spread right now?" he asks, and tries to fight the smile tugging at his lips.

Peter's laughing dies down to giggles, and he rakes his fingers through his matted down hair. "This is great. Do you think we'll get a ship name?" Peter questions. "Like... Nova-Man or Spider-Nova? Oh! SpideyNova."

Sam rolls his eyes. "All of those sound dumb. Besides, it was just a small group of people, I don't think we have to worry about getting our own blog."

"Oh, come on, Sam," Peter pouts, "we're totally blog worthy. I bet you five bucks someone will write a fanfiction about us."

"No way, dude, you'll cheat and write one yourself."

Peter shrugs, but doesn't deny it. "What do you say we put on the masks and join the parade?" He adjusts the flag around his neck and peeks down over the building. "I think they miss us."

Sam looks down at the street as well, and smiles. "Well, it's not exactly how I planned on going to Pride, but you're right - the cape really is a nice touch."

Peter grins and after a moments hesitation, he reaches out and takes Sam's hand, lacing their fingers together. "Maybe we can get more shippers, too. I wasn't kidding when I thought SpideyNova had a nice ring to it."

Sam smirks. Smooth, Parker. "I guess it doesn't sound too bad," he admits and uses his free hand to slip his helmet back on. His suit materializes around him, and he squeezes Peter's hand. "Alright, Parker. Let's get SpideyNova some publicity."

Peter grins and leans down to give him a quick kiss. It's awkward because of the helmet, but Sam blushes all the same and watches Peter tug on his mask before saluting and jumping off the roof.

Sam shakes himself and adjusts his cape again. The Nova Force and small breeze make the rainbow of colors flutter around him, and he grins. Below him is a sea of people, and Spider-Man is perched on the building opposite, his own cape draped around him, giving the impression of a much more colorful Batman, and Sam snorts at the thought.

Then, with a smile, he dives down to join the festivities.


End file.
